Smoke and Fumes Synopsis

The synopsis asserts that the petroleum industry was unequivocally warned of climate change by 1968 and that internal documents from companies like Exxon show a stark contrast between their internal scientific certainty and their public campaigns of disinformation. It highlights that while these companies protected their own infrastructure from rising sea levels and warming, they funded 'AstroTurf' organizations and misinformation plans to ensure the public viewed climate science as uncertain. The document also notes that attribution science now allows for the tracing of specific climate impacts to individual companies, providing a legal basis for accountability.

• Major oil and gas companies were aware of the potential climate change risks associated with their products by the 1950s and received explicit warnings from the 1960s onward.
• The entire petroleum industry received an explicit warning about the risks of warming caused by greenhouse gas accumulation in 1968, with a further supplement provided in 1969.
• Internal evidence shows that Exxon scientists confirmed the scientific consensus on climate change between 1977 and 1982, yet the company's external communications to the public and investors emphasized uncertainty.
• Fossil fuel companies used climate projections for their own operational planning and asset protection as early as the 1970s and 1980s, even while publicly denying the science.
• The industry engaged in coordinated disinformation campaigns, such as the American Petroleum Institute's 1998 "Global Climate Science Communications Plan," to ensure public acceptance of climate science as uncertain.
• Advances in attribution science now enable the quantification of specific climate impacts and the tracing of those harms back to the contributions of individual companies.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (n.d.). Smoke and Fumes Synopsis. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/6-pager-v5.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Smoke and Fumes Synopsis. n.d. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/6-pager-v5.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Smoke and Fumes Synopsis |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/6-pager-v5.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallawndsmoke, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Smoke and Fumes Synopsis}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/6-pager-v5.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }